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Alexander Murphy Palmer Haley was born in Ithaca, New York.
He was the oldest child of Simon Alexander and Bertha Palmer
Haley. At the time of his birth, his father was a graduate student
at Cornell University and his mother was a music teacher. As
a young boy, Alex Haley first learned of his African ancestor,
Kunta Kinte, by listening to the family stories of his maternal
grandparents while spending his summers in Henning, Tenn-
essee. According to family history, Kunta Kinte landed with other
Gambian Africans in “Napolis” (Annapolis, Maryland) where he
was sold into slavery. Alex Haley’s quest to learn more about
his family history resulted in his writing the Pulitzer Prize-winn-
ing book Roots. The book has been published in 37 languages,
and was made into the first week-long television mini-series,
viewed by an estimated 130 million people. Roots also generated
widespread interest in genealogy. Haley’s writing career began
after he entered the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939. Haley was the
first member of the U.S. Coast Guard with a Journalist desig-
nation. In 1999 the U.S. Coast Guard honored Haley by naming
a Coast Guard Cutter after him. Haley’s personal motto, “Find the
Good and Praise It,” appears on the ship’s emblem. He retired
from the military after 20 years of service, and then continued
writing. Out of the service, he tried his hand at journalism in the
private sector. His first successful article was an interview that
appeared in Playboy Magazine in 1962. Alex next worked on
The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Published in 1965, it became
Haley’s first major book. It was about this time his thoughts then
turned back to the family story of the African slave that he heard
as a child. His work on the story, which he knew he had to write,
became a primary focus of his writing efforts. He details his
many years of research in the last chapter of Roots. First referred
to as Before This Anger, it was eventually published in abbrevi-
ated form in 1974 by the Reader’s Digest. The completed version
of Roots was placed on bookshelves in 1976. The award winning
book and television mini-series introduced Kunta Kinte to the
world. Other Haley publications include A Different Kind of
Christmas, a 1990 book about the underground railroad, and
Queen, the story of Haley’s paternal ancestors. Queen was pro-
duced into a television mini-series, which first aired in the winter
of 1993. Perhaps one of Alex Haley’s greatest gifts was in speak-
ing. He was a fascinating teller of tales. In great demand as a
lecturer, both nationally and internationally, he was on a lecture
tour in Seattle, Washington, when he died on February 10, 1992.
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